Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

At the oral hearing for the widening of the M50, the National Roads Authority, Arup Consulting Engineers, the Dublin Transportation Office and An Bord Pleanála said we would need to demand manage this road because it will not work. Mr. John Henry, the head of the Dublin Transportation Office, said in its submission that scheme management was needed earlier rather than later because the figures in the oral hearing were dramatic. They showed that as soon as it is opened in 2008, the volumes will double and the road will be grid locked. Does the Minister support the position of the National Roads Authority, Arup Consulting Engineers, the Dublin Transportation Office and An Bord Pleanála that we will need to demand manage that road sooner rather than later? Does that not require what was implied by the Minister, that is, a multiple point tolling system on the M50 operated on a variable basis — not to raise revenues but to cut down on congestion? Does he support that principle? Is that the scheme the NRA will come back to the Minister with this autumn?

Given that it would seem we will have to introduce such a demand management system on the M50 to make it work, why proceed with signing contracts for a tolling system on the N3, the Clonee-Kells motorway, which would effectively mean that motorists travelling from Cavan to Dublin daily — approximately 6,000 people commute on that route daily — would have to pay a toll at the Kells end of the new motorway, a toll at the Clonee end of it and a toll when they hit the M50? Surely this requirement for a toll management system on the M50 requires the Minister to review the entire tolling operation being put in place so that motorists are not fleeced and that we at least have a tolling system designed to get those roads working rather than raise money for private operators. Will he reconsider the application of tolls on the Kells-Clonee motorway given that almost every transport expert agrees we will have to toll the M50 to make it work?

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